Most libraries do some quantitative research. They count such things as the size and growth of their collections, the quantity of material that circulates, numbers of reference queries, presentations given by librarians, service hours, staff size, expenditures in various categories, and so on.
There are a lot of questions that this information answers, especially if it is collected year after year. There are other questions that demand other methods.
In some cases, the methods are still quantitative, but they involve requests to individual users for information about exactly what they do in the library. Along these lines, an extensive survey was recently conducted at the University of Chicago, with fascinating results. For example, the study found that while undergrads use Regenstein Library mainly as a study hall, they peacefully coexist with the graduate students and faculty members who are the library’s heaviest users (the ones who check out the most books). Even more interesting: heavy use of books is directly related to heavy use of electronic-research resources. In a recent article about the research, Andrew Abbott concludes that, “the survey data provides no evidence that traditional research practices are being replaced by electronic ones.” By contrast, it seems that “the use of one type of material is likely to reinforce the use of the other.” (See the article, “Heavy Connections” in the October 2006 University of Chicago Magazine.)
Other times, a qualitative approach is better. This may be because a small, simple set of observations can answer a question quickly and inexpensively, without requiring a costly survey. Or it may be that some questions can only be answered by doing intensive research with a few participants, rather than extensive research with many. This has been the case for us as we have studied how faculty members and then undergraduates use technology, spaces, and services as they conduct research at the University of Rochester.
But how do you choose the method?
The first step is to refine your research question. For us, this is a deliberate, group process in which we ask ourselves what we want to know that we don’t already know. It is not unusual for us to realize during this process that we already know the answers to many questions, but that other questions remain unanswered and unanswerable using the information we already have. In this process we also anticipate what we will do with any information we collect. We try to speculate about what we might be able to say or do, what conclusions we would be able to support or what changes we might think worth making, once we had more information.
It’s worth taking the time at the beginning of a project to facilitate several conversations about what you know already, what you want to know, and what you want to be able to say and do at the end. Once you have answered these questions, the methods – whether quantitative or qualitative – will be much easier to select.